Blog

Innovation: It’s Not a Resolution. It’s a Resolute!

In 2016 and beyond, business leaders must permanently implement a culture of innovation.
The Times Square Ball dropped. Ryan Seacrest earned a cool $1 million for hosting one night of television. And there was all the predictable raucous cheering and party horn blowing, kissing, and butchering of the “Auld Lang Syne” lyrics. Now, we’re just days into 2016. The New York Department of Sanitation has picked up nearly 50 tons of New Year’s Eve debris and everyone is sick of seeing Facebook’s 2015 Year in Review posts and Instagram’s #2015bestnine photo collages. Only one thing left to do: it’s time to talk 2016 New Year Resolutions.

Various reports estimate that 40 to 50 percent of people make New Year’s resolutions, with the most popular resolutions being weight loss, improving finances, and exercising.[1]

While personal resolutions are important, if you’re a business leader, you must also consider New Year’s resolutions for your business. What are you going to do in 2016 (and beyond) to be more innovative? You should be obsessively thinking about how you can initiate and improve innovation at your business. This must be a round-the-clock effort, a tireless goal. If you’re leading a business and you’re not doing this, you’re renouncing one of your chief leadership responsibilities. As discussed in in Robert’s Rules of Innovation and Robert’s Rules of Innovation II, “Ownership” is a key imperative to create and sustain innovation in order to Innovate and Thrive in this competitive marketplace.

“Most would agree that innovation is everyone’s responsibility. However, innovation needs ownership, a champion within the organization. The champion must convince others to take calculated risks and work outside of the one’s own comfort zone. A successful leader is able to transform team members into stakeholders.”

–Robert’s Rules of Innovation II: The Art of Implementation, p.5

Does this sound like you? Are you unfailingly aggressive in your innovation efforts? You’re at the helm of this ship; so if you’re not up for the challenge, shape up or ship out. Innovation is not optional—it’s not extra credit or a little lagniappe to your daily business operations. It’s absolutely essential for survival in the business world. Innovate or Die.

Even if you create the perfect climate for innovation, where every aspect of the organization promotes the creativity, engagement, and acceptance of the change that is required for creating a culture of innovation, failure still looms at the forefront. Why? Because it’s simply not enough to just create a culture of innovation. If you don’t ensure that your organization has a plan to actually implement your innovation plans, that innovation will be moot. Null and void. An expensive and demoralizing failure. The newly published Robert’s Rules of Innovation II: The Art of Implementation shows how to permanently implement a culture of innovation in one’s work environment.

Accordingly, if you’re a savvy, forward-thinking business leader, your New Year’s resolution (…and yearly, monthly, daily, and hourly resolution) should be the actual implementation of a sustainable culture of innovation. This is a resolute for success. Make it happen. Drive your business forward into the New Year and the future. Poise your company for long term sustainability and profits. Be the success story. Turn your resolution into a reality.